Wednesday, October 26, 2011
3:30 – 5:30 pm
Retablo-making workshop with Claudio Jiménez Quispe

• Register
  Open to children and adults. Location to be announced
  $10, includes tools and materials needed for workshop.

Thursday, October 27, 2011
6:30 -8:30 p.m.
Conversation with and exhibit of Peruvian Retablos by Claudio Jiménez Quispe, celebrated and world-renowned Peruvian retablista. Photographs of Ayacucho and poems by Monique Pineda.

• $10 General Public. Register
• IOA Members, free: Register here

Retablos will be for sale and Peruvian food and drinks will be provided.

Retablos originated as altarpieces in eighteenth-century Catholic churches, but are no longer purely religious and have become a distinctly Peruvian art form. Retablos incorporate several artistic elements, and are typically formed by a painted and carved wooden backdrop with panels hinged and folded as in a triptych. Individual statuettes adorn the foreground in a scene that tells a story. Each retablo can take between two and four weeks to complete.

The best retablos come from Ayacucho, and it was in the small, neighboring town of Alcamenca that Claudio Jiménez Quispe was born into a long line of retablistas. He began learning the art at his father don Florentino’s side, at the age of six, producing his own pieces at the age
of 12.

Claudio and his family moved to Lima in 1989 yet are deeply tied to their home region, preferring to speak Quechua at home. Claudio’s retablos often include scenes typical of Ayacucho, drawing inspiration from history and his people’s traditions and legends. He adds his own twist to pieces ranging thematically from old-fashioned religious scenes to fanciful portrayals of life in the Peruvian Andes and depicting childhood acquaintances and mythic figures and monsters, many of his own creation. Claudio studied fine arts and anthropology at university level in Ayacucho and completed a degree in mathematics education, but dedicates all of his time to his art.

In collaboration with the Center for Latin American Studies at San Diego State University and the House of Peru in Balboa Park